At last year's CEDIA Expo in Atlanta, Klipsch set up their demo in a room that was more than just a little bit off the beaten path. Undaunted, I was able to find my way there and boy was I glad that I took the extra time to seek them out! The Klipsch Group, Inc. owns a total of four speaker companies – Klipsch, Jamo, Mirage and Energy. Each company had some new products on display.

I was most impressed with a demo of the updated Klipsch Reference II speakers. The fine people from Klipsch had an A/B demo set up to compare the latest version of the Reference II's to last year's model. All I can say is that the demo really impressed me. The old speakers sounded good, but when the newer ones were toggled on, I heard a whole new level of detail, openness and a sound that was unrestrained by the cabinets.

So it was with great anticipation that I decided to review a Reference II 5.1 speaker system based on the RF-82 II floor standing speakers, and also including the RC-62 II Center, RS-52 II Surrounds, and SW-311 Subwoofer. Let's see how this system stacks up.